Zynga's Mattrick steps down, Pincus back as CEO

Zynga CEO Don Mattrick will step down as CEO of the social games company, overseeing a significant transition focused on bolstering its mobile footprint.

Mark Pincus, Zynga's founder, will return as the company's CEO immediately, according to a statement released Wednesday.

"Don joined us at a very important time in our evolution," Pincus said in an email to employees Wednesday. "In less than two years under his guidance, our teams have worked hard to better serve our mobile players and deliver world class quality and value to our consumers."

Pincus says he is taking over as CEO to "accelerate innovation in the most popular categories like Action Strategy and strengthen our focus on our core areas like Invest and Express."

Mattrick says he will return to Canada to "pursue his next challenge."

"I am proud of the progress we have made together," Mattrick said in a statement. "I believe the timing is now right for me to leave as CEO and let Mark lead the company into its next chapter given his passion for the founding vision and his ability to couple our mobile progress with Zynga's unique strengths."

Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft's Xbox division who took over as Zynga chief in July 2013, oversaw the company's shift from Web games to the smartphone and tablet. Zynga's mobile bookings — money spent by consumers on games — represented 27% of their overall revenue when Mattrick started. As of last year, that percentage swelled to 60%.

"We had to start off as a small contender on mobile," Pincus said in an interview. "Don led that company through this transition."

Mattrick negotiated multiple deals, including the acquisition of mobile game maker NaturalMotion for $527 million, as well as partnerships with the NFL and Tiger Woods on mobile games. NFL Showdown, a sports manager game, launched last year, while a golf game starring Woods will arrive later this year.

The first game developed under Zynga by NaturalMotion is an action strategy game called Dawn of Titans, expected to arrive in 2015.

Pincus says Mattrick's calm demeanor was critical for Zynga when he arrived almost two years ago. "It was the right rhythm, style and personality for what the company needed, which was to bring a sense of calm and patience among a lot of frenetic and chaotic storms," he said. "He's been a very steady hand at the wheel."

Pincus says the mutual decision to return as CEO will bring a focus toward making "social games a mass market activity."

The time away from running day-to-day operations at Zynga also helped Pincus take a breath, he says. "I was able to really reflect on a lot of things I did right and wrong. One of the qualities I've grown to respect in leaders is patience."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23